This week, we see one of the biggest games in English football history. The first ever all-English Champions League final, contested by Manchester United and Chelsea.
Manchester United's journey to the final has been a very steady one, pulling out victory after victory. They are currently undefeated in the Champions League this season. They have come across a variety of teams. Dynamo Kiev, AS Roma (group stage and quarter finals), Sporting Lisbon, Olympique Lyonnais and Barcelona have all fallen to United this season.
Chelsea's journey to the final has been eventful. They have been defeated this season, by Fenerbahce. They managed to turn that quarter final tie around at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have manged to get past Fenerbache, Schalke 04, Valencia, Rosenborg, Olympiakos and Liverpool.
So, both United and Chelsea have faced some extremely difficult teams this season. But now they face each other. May 21st, Moscow.
The final will hopefully be more entertaining than their previous cup final meetings.
United have Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Anderson, Nani, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves to name a few. Chelsea have Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba, Joe Cole, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka to name a few.
All of the aforementioned players are undoubtedly among the greats in their separate positions, but who will triumph?
Personally, I want United to win it. Not just because I'm a United supporter, but also because it would be the greatest tribute to the players who died in the Munich Air Disaster 50 years ago. Chelsea will want revenge for losing out on the Premier League.
Who do I think will win? United. It won't be pretty, it probably won't be that entertaining, unfortunately. I see this going to extra time. Late goal in the second period.
I'll just have to make sure I'm not too comfy, or I'll fall asleep like I did last year during the FA Cup Final. Seriously.
What do you lot think? You all have your opinions, you'll probably write your own articles on it. Comment on this one. Go on. Use that little thing below.
Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea (AET): Live on ITV1 and Sky Sports 1 & HD1.
7:45pm kick-off (UK)
comments (33) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Really depends how United set out. Probably with Rooney on his own, which is a pity because I think if he puts out Tevez to partner him, and really go at Chelsea we could score in the first half. Saying that, if it goes to extra time, I can see Chelsea scoring. They never seem to tire, and have proved they can produce goals in extra time when they played Liverpool.
Gonna be good final though I think, both teams will be wary of each other. Good article also mate.
My Prediction is a score draw and then extra time. Im not even gonna bother predicting after that! Sorry!
from 2 months ago
hmm, score draw could happen here. To be honest, I didn't want to predict this, it's so hard to do it.
2 months ago
this might be a historic win for chelsea....
it would be the unforgettteble rememberance for manchester...
we r u with u............
Go chelsea Go
from 2 months ago
it'll be a great win for both, of course.
2 months ago
HEY - wat a tinely article
cant wait for Moscow .... CANT wait
I want Man U to win too - and I think they will, remember Drogba crashin my party last year
good luck ! am a bit of a Wayne fan
from 2 months ago
what does tinely mean? Can't wait either mate.
2 months ago
Hi Manchester United, you're the best team I never seen in my life and I hopes you are going to win champion league final because I expected Wayne Rooney and Christaino Ronaldo are the best players in world so good luck Wayne Rooney but make Christaino Ronaldo as a good partner to let you score wonder goal on the day and I'll keep my eyes on you on televison. You're the best United.
from 2 months ago
Oh we will win, I'm hoping we do anyway. United are the best! Thanks for the comments.
2 months ago
Well this is such a close call. I remember though, last year when United pipped us to the title, we came back and took the FA Cup. I see the same happening here, at least i hope we do. In a way, I kinda think its in United's hands. If they start with all three (Tevez,Rooney,Ronaldo) then I can see them scoring a couple of goals. so its all down to how we respond to that. If he leaves out one of em (probably Tevez) I see us coping comfortably and winning the game in 90mins.
Tevez was soo important for you lot against Barcelona, would be messed up if he didnt get to start..
from 2 months ago
Tevez must start. We have to attack focused to win, simple as. We learnt from that defeat at Stamford Bridge. I think this season is much different to last season. Fortunes may change for United this year.
2 months ago
Any body knows what time ganna started the game at pacefic time . I'm living in Canada Vancouver
from 2 months ago
I think it's 1:45pm Canada time.
from 2 months ago
no its not...vancouvers on PT so they are 8 hours behind meaning the match is at 11:45 am...if you look on google all the clocks have the right time but say vancouver should be 7 hours ahead for daylight saving but your actually 8...dont know why but you are!
IF chelsea win i think it will be a last minute lucky goal as they will be riding their luck once again...united have much more firepower, much much quicker on the break with ronaldo giggs anderson and nani (whilst they have frank lampard waddling round with a burger in hand...who is also leaving chelsea for milan after the game)...i think the biggest risk fergesun should take is (this sounds stupid but think about it) having ronaldo on the bench for the first half and letting anderson giggs nanni etc run the ball and tire out chelsea...10minutes in to the 2nd half bring on ronaldo for one of the slower midfielders, chelsea will not contain him, he will run his heart out tommorrow anyway let alone if fergie keeps him on the bench for the first half. This also gives us the advantage that if the game happens to go into extra time, ronaldo is still going to be 45minutes fresher than the rest of the chelsea team (minus subs) this sounds like im resting everything on ronaldo but not at all...if you have players on the wing like him suppling constant balls into the area, you WILL score, no matter if its a rooney volley or a fletcher spoon, you are bound to score...if it goes to penalties it will be tough decision as chech is a decent keeper, however van der sar is an awesome shot stopper so united have advantage there....spot takers i dont think many players would miss, pressure would play the biggest part tho, it will come down to a scuffed shot or excellent save if it came to penalties....come on UNITED
from 2 months ago
I cant understand it when people start talking a load drivel like this. Do you have a short memory Dave? Or did you not watch United's last match against Chelsea. Ronaldo CAME OFF THE BENCH with the score 1-1 and United STILL went on to lose 2-1. Having Ronaldo on the bench for the biggest game of his career and United's biggest game in nearly 10 years, is not a remotely good idea. The fans would be livid and Ronaldo himself wouln't be happy about it and could maybe push him out the door on his way to Real Madrid. Chelsea are better equiped but United a vey fast team. The match is even stevens at the moment and anybody who says anything else is a fool.
from 2 months ago
how can you say chelsea are better equipped than united? goal scoring potential throughout the team? Anderson rooney giggs tevez ronaldo...scholes carrick nani etc...uniteds defence is far superior to chelseas, vidic and ferdinand in centre with evra on the left(who is faster than ashley cole too) and probably hargreaves on the right...as long as we dont play with rooney on his own upfront we should be fine.
When we played chelsea in the premiership (oh by the way whos champions???) we played shit in the first half admittedley, ballacks goal shouldnt have been scored as he was totally unmarked but things happen...2nd half when RONALDO CAME ON you couldnt cope with the pressure as your men were more fatigued than him, and we walked all over you the majority of the 2nd half...you had pretty much your full first team on the pitch, united had noway near their strongest team playing...resting ronaldo, vidic injured, rooney going off injured, darren fletcher playing etc, with the players on the pitch and the players being rested its clear to see we were concerntrating on the champions league game on the tuesday (which i think we should have played first team against you)...all these injured and rested players and the ONLY reason you won was because you got a penalty in the last 5 minutes (riding your luck again) after that we had the ball cleared off your penalty line TWICE etc...also remember this was at stamford bridge, united away from home...that penalty was given alot easier due to the location...united will be more up for it tonight because of the game at stamford bridge 3 weeks ago. so next time you say we lost because ronaldo didnt play, look around at the rest of the squad too and see what else is going on because unlike chelsea we are not a one man (drogba) team.
2 months ago
I fink Chelsea will just about win because they hve been lucky this season as well as manchester united and they also have something to prove to their boss (Abramovich) because he's russian
I fought they wree definately third time lucky with us (liverpool) and hopefully they will win itt for the first time
Im backing Chelsea ...
Maybe a penalty shoot out
2 months ago
I think this is going to be typical Sir Alex play where he will start Rooney by himself and go 4-5-1. Chelsea will start 4-3-3 as always and will score on United AET. By the way, I am a United fan but Im still a little sore since I havent gotten over the fact that Reading got relegated from the EPL.
from 2 months ago
I hope to god he don't play a 4-5-1, Chelsea adore playing against that formation.
2 months ago
Oh i hate penalties. Glad everyone is showing their opinions.
2 months ago
that's the first article I've written that's had over 1000 hits, thanks everyone for taking the time to read it.
2 months ago
that cup belongs to chealsea
2 months ago
Dave, mate, I don't know what match you watched, but Chelsea walked all over us throughour the match. Ronney's goal was down to pure luck. Granted, the ball was cleared off th line twice, but I don't agree with the notion "Chelsea are a one man team" refering to Drogba. Chelsea rely on more players than him mate.
I did laugh when you said the penalty was given due to the location.... how many pens have we had that were, admittedly, not pens? Emotions are riding high for tonights game, but I've been a United supporter for 16 years, and I'll admit that we're at a level playing field going into tonight.
Yes. United won the title, but Chelsea beat us at Stamford Bridge. Wasn't a penalty anyway, lol.
We must play 4-3-3. Chelsea relish playing against 4-5-1 because they systematically picks moments in which to take apart a certain player. Ronney hates being lone striker, and Fergie knows that. If Ronaldo is on the bench, like someone said elsewhere, I'll punch my TV.
Dave, I felt your comment about Lamps with a burger in hand was childish. Who the hell called him Fat Frank in the first place? I'm fat, he isn't. I think it takes courage to do what he's doing, so shortly after his mum's death.
I hope we get a decent game, because I fell asleep (albeit briefly) during the F.A.Cup Final last year.
Come on United, and good luck to Chelsea. Game on.
from 2 months ago
Being an almighty Man Utd fan ever since we lost the title to Blackburn in 1995, I have to put my mouth where my brain is. True, Chelsea will give us a good game, but we will come out on top.
NO. PLEASE NO PENALTIES! THE TEAM I SUPPORT ALWAYS LOSE ON PENALTIES (well, except for Man Utd in the Community Shield this year, and Liverpool in the semis last year when I didn't want Chelsea to win)
Man Utd to nick it 2-1 in extra time. Ronaldo to score first, Ballack to equalise and then Tevz to win it in extra time.
Yes, PLZ PLAY A 4-4-3 SIR ALEX, PLEASE! Then we can murder them. Here's my team for the game, if Sir Alex would care to look:
GK: Van der Sar
DR: Brown
DL: Evra
DC: Ferdinand (c)
DC: Vidic
MC: Scholes
MC: Carrick
MC: Anderson
AMR: Ronaldo
AML: Park (okay, a few eyebrows maybe but he's been consistent)
FC: Rooney
Subs: Kusczak, O'Shea, Nani, Hargreaves, Silvestre, Giggs, Tevez
2 months ago
Yo Edward. Good squad, but I would have giggs instead of Park. Personal opinion obviously
2 months ago
do you live in england? last season the papers were full of lampard being overweight etc etc, and he is the most over rated player in england. For example in the world cup i think it was an actual statistic that he gave the ball away more times than he completed a succesful pass. granted im not blaming it all on him that we were knocked out but he had a very important role which could have being filled by a better player. I agree what he is doing takes alot of courage a strength to play, but it doesnt mean i like the guy, he is so over rated its a joke.
Everyone gets their fair share of luck in life, and im not saying united never had any, but the way in which chelsea have got to where they are (forgetting the multi-billionaire owner buying all the players) is greatly (not totally) down to luck. Take this as an exapmle...the end of the season came and united and chelsea were level on points however united were infront due to goal difference. Now take the time to ask yourself why...try thinking back to the amount of games chelsea have won 1-0 or 2-1 etc scoring in the last few minutes, not just once or twice but repeatedley. Not ONE chelsea player is in the top 13 goal scorers of this season! Anelka is 14th with 11 goals. Now chelsea fans will just say we are relying on ronaldo, however that is untrue as both Rooney and Tevez are higher goal scorers than chelseas higest goal scorer. Manchester United deserve this season as we have dominated 99.9% of it with class, skill, consitency and good professional football. Chelsea have again relyed on alot of luck to get them to the position they were in.
There were many controvesial areas surrounding the final but first lets look at the game at stamford bridge. If you take the time to re-watch the game and watch a reply of every "foul" commited by united you will see that 80% of this is down to pathetic refereeing. Every time a united player went close to body contact with a chelsea player, down they went. We was admittedly a disgrace in the first half however the second half was a totally different story. We dominated the play and things just didnt go our way, possibly due to the location.
Now if you look at the final, united should/could have been 2-0,3-0,4-0 up at half time, we were playing chelsea off the park with far superior possesion and passing accuracy. close to the end of the first half united had completed MORE THAN DOUBLE the amount of passes chelsea had and chelsea had possibly 3 shots? The ronaldo goal was a world class header and a quality goal, no1 can argue with that...now look at chelseas goal...a shot is taken, deflected off a defenders leg, hits rio ferdinand on the back, van der sar slips on his way to close down the ball (had he not slipped he would almost definatley have saved it) and the ball bounces and sits perfectly for lampard. If you dont call that luck what the hell is? Chelsea were the better team in the second half having far more attempts, however at full time (90mins) i believe chelsea had somethink like 17 shots or 23 shots on goal? guess how many were acutally on target? THREE! so NO chelsea fans can say they had an amazing amount of awesome shots because they were all high,wide or blocked.
Yes i know chelsea hit the bar twice, drogbas shot being a good attempt but a speculative effort rather than a worked attempt. Also lampards shot was unbeknown to even frank himself where it was going to end up as he spun and hit the ball goal bound on his wrong side. Agreed two very close efforts, but then you can look at the way terry somehow bent his neck in that position and get the ball over for a corner, having another cleared off the line and tevez all but enough on the ball in to send it goalwards. Each team had their share of near misses.
Alot of chelsea fans are saying the ref was bias, this is mainly down to the drogba red card. If that was rooney slapping drogba what would you chelsea fans do if rooney was not sent off? Think about it...exactly! Agreed tevez gave a push but following that practically all the chelsea squad were surrounding him pushing etc, tevez got carded accordingly and not sent off as he was walking away from everything yet the chelsea players followed, this was clearly seen by the ref and dealt with accordingly. If you are calling the ref bias please look at the amount of fouls commited by both sides. Now look at the amount of time a united player spent rolling round on the floor throwing his dummy at the ref?not once. the only time a united player stayed down was both scholes and nani after clashes of heads and also ferdinand when he had cramp. Now look how almost every chelsea player ACTED and reacted when supposedly "fouled". Im not saying united commited no fouls, of course we did, but you seriously have to question the validity of some of your free kicks.
In Extra Time fergie must have blasted the payers as they began to be the better side again, each team having attempts etc.
penalties come n ronaldo screws up as i thought he was going to in that position...however you can not say if terry did not slip it would have been a goal. And thats for 3 very good reasons...
1) If van der sar didnt slip he would have stopped lampards goal and you would be in the penalty situation.
2)Dont blame Terry. If it wasnt for his header clearing uniteds goalbound shot, you wouldnt have got to penalties
3)You can not say if he didnt slip it would have been a goal because...well, can you tell the future?if so can i say this, why would you bother watching the match if you had this ability as you would already know the outcome and also...what are tomorrows lottery numbers?
At the end of the day it was a alltogether relativley even match up, united won and majority of people will say deservedley so.
Ryan giggs says the cup is like a chocolate orange.........its not Terry's, its MINE! haha
from 2 months ago
Dave, of all the United fans that drown in their own glory, You must the dumbest of them all. There are dignified United fans such as Michael and Keith, then there are some silly ones such as Kiran but YOU are simply DUMB.
Firstly, the world cup. Yes, Lampard had a bad world cup but he was just the worst out of a really bad bunch. Gerrard was England's best player that tournament and he was average at best. Lampard was voted Fans player of the year TWO years running prior to the world cup and he all of a sudden became public enemy No1 in the space of a few weeks. The English public needed a scapegoat for their country's poor showing.
Calling him Fat, just shows how limited your little brain is.
On the final, True, United dominted the first half fully. Secong half, however, Chelsea came back and absolutely battered United. The more decent United fans will testify to that.
No Chelsea fan, that i know of, claim the ref was biased. No Chelsea fan, that I know of, claim United were lucky either. United fully deserved everything they achieved this season. However, to say Terry did not slip is pure IGNORANCE. He DID slip and missed. THAT WAS LUCKY FOR UNITED. United took full advantage and there was NO LUCK about Van Der Sar's save from Anelka, That was good goal keeping, combined with a really, really lousy shot from Anelka.
I suggest you think TWICE before sitting down to write such DRIVEL...
2 months ago
if you read what i said properly you will realise i said terry did slip...i was saying that you cant say would would have happend IF HE DIDNT...also read again, i ALSO SAID CHELSEA WERE BETTER IN THE SECCOND HALF. you call me dumb yet you cant piece some simple words together. clever boy
from 2 months ago
Well quite frankly, it was so long a comment and full of bullshit that I skimmed through it. On your previous comment I concluded that your a biased Chelsea hater who'se full of shit...
Keep it up bruv...
2 months ago
you skimmed it yet you say you know its full of shit? you also said that more decent united fans testify to the fact that chelsea were a better team in the second half, WHICH i should point out id already said...so by even your standards it shows im a decent united fan! once again a clever remark...and how are you not biased by saying chelsea deserved it, when even i said it, overall, was an equally matched game but united deserved the win..based on overall stats and performance all season.
even roman abramovic has declared he will spend £80million to bring messi to chelsea to change your football as it bores him! Thats a big statement from your owner would you not say?
from 2 months ago
i read ur comment, and salomon is right, it's full of as much shit as u are. me and keith face up facts, but ur the kind of fan that we are ashamed to have among us. why did yopu put a comment that long? jeez louise.
you said that chelsea got to where they are with their millions, but they have to perform, which they have.
what proof does anyone have that abramovich said that. none. you believe the apaers far too much mate. grow up
2 months ago
im the fan that your ashamed of...how many times you been to see united? do you live in manchester or are you from another country? my comments full of shit? ok. u said u face up facts, that comment was full of them. heres some "facts" for you about the final
United had 58% of the possession to Chelseas 42% (60/40 in the first half!), more shots on target (5 to chelseas 3), a better goal in open play (Chelsea's was a gift), were better in extra time and we won the shoot-out. We have both trophies, end of story, end of chelseas dreams, end of drogba and his acrobatics.
so why dont u look at the facts which show the team you supposedly support were better throughout the game as a whole (yes yes i know not in the 2nd half).
from 2 months ago
i do live in the uk. i don't live in manchester although i have links which i wont mention (quite personal reasons) i've been to see united 6 times, and have met the majority of the squad. stats don't prove anything. to be honest, i'm just happy that evry1 on that plane go the tribute they deserved.
we wern't better in extra time, every1 knows that. we settled for penalties, chelsea didn't.
end of discussion on my part. bye
2 months ago
its pointless arguing anyway, all your going to do is bitch about me "being a shit fan" and being "bias against chelsea" when, fair enough your views are your own, but its like you were watching the game and reading my comments through a "united haters" eyes. seen as my comments are "like a 10year olds" i wont comment again. why dont you copy n paste my "bullshit comment" into the united fanzone area n see who agrees. i think you will find that your not as loyal a fan as u realise. how you can say stats dont proove anything is funny, so can you tell me why we use them? oh and the proof is that it was QUOTED that abramovic has said that..it wasnt them exact words it was something like he thought mourinhos side played boring football but accepted it as it brough in trophies.also when grant took over he accepted to carry on as they were as it would take time for change and this summer is when he plans to do it. which is why they hype has been about drogba leaving, lampard leaving grant leaving £80million for messi to come and change the football the midfield are playing.look for it on google
the reason salomon doesnt like what i said is because its what every chelsea fan hates to hear, they are lucky! ask any fan of any team. how can you not call chelsea lucky? try broadening your horizons to take in everyone elses point of view too.
did you not notice the way salomon said any decent fan admits chelsea were better in the first half...what did i do before he said that. i suggest you should both really get lives outside of you computer screen
write a new comment